Update: Judge Allows Texas Cheerleaders to Use Bible Banners

Cheerleaders at Kountze High School in Texas can continue to use banners with Bible verses after a court granted them a temporary restraining order against their school district, the Religion News Service reports. Kountze Independent School District superintendent Kevin Weldon, after consulting with a legal adviser when an anonymous complaint was made, had stopped the use of the large paper banners the cheerleaders created for the football players to run though at the start of games. Parents filed suit on behalf of the cheerleaders, and on Sept. 20 a Hardin County judge ordered the school district to "cease and desist" from preventing the cheerleaders from displaying the banners. A hearing on the case has been set for October 4. The Liberty Institute, which is representing the cheerleaders and parents in the case, hailed the judge's decision. "We are excited that the cheerleaders for the Kountze High School Lions can again do what they do best -- cheer on their football team without government censorship," said Mike Johnson, Liberty Institute senior counsel.